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As Britain gathers its breath after a tense and surprising election result, the Conservatives have now re-shuffled the cabinet to tackle the most important areas of policy, including education, the NHS, immigration and the economy, which of course includes local business. SMEs account for more than 99% of all UK business and nearly half of all private sector employment, making the support and growth of local commerce as important as ever in driving economic stability and opening new markets in…

With the Spring half-term just around the corner, the continuing strong performance of the pound against the Euro and Dollar should be good news for many families.  Especially as new research from the Ukash Travel Money Prepaid MasterCard* card reveals that for more than half of Brits, booking a holiday comes with anxieties about the cost.  When it comes to holiday worries, 59% of respondents to the Ukash research said they get anxious about the cost of the trip. The…

Leading lawyers Clarke Willmott LLP are expanding into South Wales with the opening of an office in Cardiff Bay. The move sees some of the industry’s leading housing and planning specialists working in the city and builds on Clarke Willmott’s recent strong track record in South Wales. It is part of the law firm’s UK-wide growth plans and comes shortly after the firm announced a growth in turnover from £33m in 2012/13 to £40m in 2014/15. The Cardiff team has…

Monday evening welcomed a gathering of over 200 people in Cardiff to celebrate the hard work and dedication to the Welsh food industry. The inaugural Food Awards Wales was hosted by Capital 1’s breakfast presenter, Polly James and the black tie ceremony took place at the Mercure Holland House Hotel, Cardiff on May 11. Yasmin Mahmood of event organisers Creative Oceanic commented “After the great success of the Food Awards England and Wales which were held in Manchester last year,…

Edwards Coaches, the largest independent coach operator in Wales and one of the largest in the UK, has secured a £2.2 million funding package from Santander Corporate & Commercial to assist with the purchase of ten new Mercedes coaches. In particular, the deal will allow Edwards Coaches to expand its fleet of holiday coaches, a key growth area for the business. The award-winning 5th generation family run business, which is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year, currently operates a fleet of over 300 buses and…

WELSH SUMMARY In April, footfall numbers in Wales were 3.6% lower than a year ago, down from the 1.7% fall in March 2015. The vacancy rate in Wales was 12.7%, a sharp decline from 15.5% in the previous quarter UK Summary Footfall in April was 0.8% lower than a year ago, down from the 0.2% rise in March. This is below the three-month average of -0.3%. Both High Streets and Shopping Centres reported a decline, falling 0.1% and 3.0% respectively….

   The Carpark King and “Strange Folk”                  Last month I briefly mentioned the finding and reburial of King Richard III.  It’s the kind of bloke I am, forever topical.  I then heard on the radio that the lady who found him in the car park in Leicester knew he was there all along, as she “was drawn to the letter K in Parking” which is how she determined where he was located. …

The Tale of the Ring and other Tall Stories       My fellow insomniacs, all of a sudden it’s time to compose another page of drivel.  Believe it or not it is “composed” so you can only imagine what it might be like if it was written “al fresco” so to speak.  Since we last met, it has come to my attention from differing global sources (Splott and Cyncoed primarily) that there is some question about whether my scribblings have…

The Thoroughbred Dog and Pass the Parcel      Dear Electorate, it may have escaped your notice but the General Election is upon us in a matter of weeks.  Now politics is a thorny area and most of us have differing views but be that as it may, I have been amused at the hollow promises politicians dust off and run-up-the-flagpole at this special time.  In the good old days politicians had careers away from politics, (or was it carers)…

Back in October 2009 The Girl’s nursery teacher told me that the school’s Headmistress wanted to see The Boss and me at 1100 hours on the next Friday. My instinctive reaction was one of dread. It reminded me of those occasions during my education when I had been told to stand outside the Headmaster’s door… The Grammar school’s Head, ‘Barrel’, looked as you’d expect a man with that nick-name to look: very round, with an unruly shock of white hair…